The Cuban government attempted to open a direct back-channel with US President Donald Trump last week, tapping a private businessman to hand-deliver a sealed letter to the White House, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing sources. The reported message, which was ultimately intercept»»»

In an address to the nation regarding the April 19 early parliamentary elections, President Iliana Iotova said: "Let us vote, but let us also think about the day after the elections, when we will live and work together." She added that once the political intrigue has died down, the urgent problems »»»

Hezbollah said its fighters would “keep their fingers on the trigger” hours after a ceasefire took effect between Lebanon and Israel, warning it would not stay silent over any Israeli violations and would not repeat its past restraint under the October 2024 ceasefire, when Israel continued attacks »»»

Antalya (Turkiye): The Amir HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani; HE President of the Republic of Turkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and HE Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif held Friday a joint meeting on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum 2026. Discuss»»»

New York: Air Canada will suspend service to New York's JFK International airport over the summer as the war in Iran creates jet fuel shortages that have sent prices soaring. Canada's flag carrier said Friday that service from Toronto and Montreal to JFK will cease June 1 and resume Oct. 25. Servic»»»

Israeli media sources said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered two secret meetings of senior officials across several ministries, under US pressure, to discuss the future of Gaza, including a possible commercial port and reconstruction plans. Observers linked the meetings to a military escala»»»

President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov received CSTO Secretary General Taalatbek Masadykov on April 17, the presidential press service reported. During the meeting, the parties discussed strengthening collective security, countering modern threats, including extremism and terrorism, and increasing t»»»

Dubai Police, in collaboration with the UAE Ministry of Interior, have arrested an Irish fugitive for his alleged role in an organised criminal group involved in international crimes in his home country. The arrest comes as part of ongoing efforts to combat organised crime and pursue internationall»»»

Minister of Economy and Commerce of the Kyrgyz Republic, Bakyt Sydykov, met in Washington, D.C. with Brendan Lynch, Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for South and Central Asia, on the sidelines of the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group. Expressing gratitu»»»

The draft of a new Bolivian hydrocarbons law prioritizes the reactivation of mature fields and traditional wells to maximize recovery of remaining reserves. File Photo by Martin Alipaz/EPA April 17 (UPI) -- The government of Rodrigo Paz has finalized the draft of a new hydrocarbons law, marking a k»»»

Abu Dhabi: Etihad Airways today announced a significant expansion of its Africa network, adding new routes to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ghana, Nigeria and Zimbabwe from Abu Dhabi, as part of its continued global growth strategy. The new services reflect investment in high-growt»»»

Brussels, April 17 (SANA) – The European Union plans to enhance cooperation with Syria by resuming official political contacts and reactivating a 1978 cooperation agreement, according to a document from the EU’s diplomatic service cited by Reuters. The document indicates that the EU will launch a h»»»

Tunis, April 17 (TAP) - Tunindex ended the week (April 13-17) up 0.8% to 15,724.51 points, taking its annual performance to 16.9%, broker Tunisie Valeurs said. The week was marked by a high traded volume of TND 317.7 million, thanks to several block...»»»

During the presentation of the company’s annual results, Stefan Hartung, Chairman of the Board of Management of Robert Bosch GmbH, stated: “As a global technology leader, we are committed to shaping trends in the fields of automation, digitalization, electrification, and artificial intelligence, as»»»

Iran has announced that the Strait of Hormuz is fully open to commercial shipping, marking a significant shift after weeks of disruption during the ongoing Middle East conflict. The move comes as a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon appears to be holding, raising cautious hop»»»

Dubai: St. Regis, The Palm in Dubai confirmed Friday that parts of the property will be unavailable from mid-April as it begins refurbishment works. “As part of our ongoing commitment to delivering an exceptional luxury experience, we have embarked on a refurbishment project,” the hotel said in a m»»»

Hisense, a leading global brand in consumer electronics and home appliances, has unveiled its new 2026 RGB MiniLED TV range at the Home of FIFA in Zurich, underlining not only its latest advances in display technology but also the strength and maturity of its long-standing partnership with FIFA ahe»»»

Agriculture Minister Margaritis Schinas is expected to urge livestock farmers of Lesvos on Friday to comply with biosecurity measures aimed at containing foot-and-mouth disease, as authorities seek to curb its spread quickly. A delegation from the island has been invited to meet at 11 a.m. at the a»»»

ANTALYA - Serbian PM Djuro Macut met with Slovenian President Natasa Pirc Musar on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum on Friday to discuss advancement of bilateral cooperation and the region's EU path. Pirc Musar said the cooperation was on a high level and that Serbia was one of Slovenia»»»

Borislav Duganov, MP candidate from the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms (ARF) in Smolyan, told voters in his hometown of Nedelino, Smolyan Region, that "with our vote on April 19, we have the chance to change the government and put an end to this oligarchic state," the coalition announced in a sta»»»

Macquarie invested in Evryo Group in 2021. Evryo Group is the owner of Distributie Energie Oltenia (DEO), a regulated electricity distribution network active in the south-western Romanian region of Oltenia. DEO develops, maintains, and operates the grid to safely supply electricity across 80,000 ki»»»

The Innovation Center, a state institution under the Ministry of Science, Higher Education, and Innovation of Kyrgyzstan, presented textbooks published in the state language for higher education institutions. According to the ministry, the textbooks presented covered subjects such as Chemistry, Phy»»»

Abu Dhabi: Travellers flying from Abu Dhabi to Mumbai and Delhi in India will experience improved travel comfort. UAE’s national carrier Etihad Airways announced Friday that it plans to introduce the game-changing Airbus A321LR twice daily to these two Indian cities, complementing two daily wide-bo»»»

Five political entities are certain to gain parliamentary representation, but there is a high probability that a sixth could also enter. Declared voter readiness during the survey period ranges between 3.1 and 3.2 million voters. This is shown by data from a nationally representative survey by Gall»»»

Dubai:HONOR a global AI device ecosystem has kicked off its latest campaign, “Dream Big with HONOR 600,” in celebration of the launch of the HONOR 600 Series, inviting people across the GCC to share their dreams and express their creativity. Running for six weeks from April 15, the campaign combine»»»

Property Concept, one of the leading companies in Romania specialized in turnkey real estate investments, offering integrated services including sales, interior design, and property management, is rebranding as Alera, marking a new stage in its development. The company is targeting accelerated grow»»»

Dubai: A viral video claiming to show India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman promoting a high-return investment scheme has been declared fake by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) Fact Check unit. The clip, widely circulated on social media, falsely suggests that an initial investment of aroun»»»

Jiuquan: China on Friday launched a Long March-4C carrier rocket to send a satellite for high-precision greenhouse gas detection into the preset orbit. The rocket blasted off at 1210 p.m. (Beijing Time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. It was the 638th flight mission of »»»

A fragile calm settled over parts of Lebanon on Friday as a 10-day ceasefire brokered by the United States took hold between Israel and Hezbollah, prompting thousands of displaced families to begin the journey home — even as uncertainty, destruction and Israeli warnings against going back to parts »»»

Denis Kitaev is a property developer, a co-founder and shareholder of Vesper, a firm specialising in premium residential construction and renovation. Born in Moscow on 3 February 1977, Denis Vladimirovich Kitaev attended Secondary School No. 622, where he developed a marked interest in drawing and »»»

The upcoming April 19 early parliamentary elections and the anticipated results is a major topic for Bulgarian media on Friday. POSSIBLE OUTCOMES – ANALYSIS Capital: “At this stage, we do not have a clear political partner, because all of them, in one way or another, have entered into harmful allia»»»

Gold held largely steady on Friday and was on track for a fourth straight weekly gain, as hopes for a US-Iran peace deal eased fears of higher inflation and elevated interest rates. Spot gold eased 0.1% to $4,784.72 per ounce by 0646 GMT, but was up about 1% so far this week. US gold futures for Ju»»»

Dubai: Lebanese civilians crossed the shattered remains of the Qasmiyeh bridge at sunrise Thursday, hours after Israeli strikes destroyed the crossing linking communities in southern Lebanon. A fragile ten-day ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel had just taken effect, prompting residents to return»»»

Türkiye hosts a high-stakes forum Friday bringing together the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, as Islamabad pushes diplomatic efforts to end the Middle East war. Pakistan's powerful army chief met senior negotiators in Tehran on Thursday as Washington and Iran considered a fr»»»

A ten-day ceasefire deal agreed between Lebanon and Israel took effect on Friday, as US President Donald Trump said he was trying to set up the first-ever face-to-face meeting between the leaders of the two countries. The truce, which Trump said would begin at midnight local time in Lebanon and Isr»»»

US President Donald Trump expressed confidence that an agreement could soon be reached to end the Iran war and urged the Tehran-aligned Hezbollah group to hold its fire as a 10-day truce went into effect between Lebanon and Israel. Trump said the next meeting between the United States and Iran coul»»»

The annual inflation rate in EU grew up to 2.8% in March, from 2.1% in February, and Romania continues to be the country with the highest inflation rate, with an annual price advance of 9%, according to data released by the EU Statistics Office (Eurostat) on Thursday. Last month, EU member states w»»»

Doha, Qatar: Al Sadd SC suffered a heartbreaking exit from the AFC Champions League (ACL) Elite, going down 5-4 on penalties to Vissel Kobe after a pulsating 3-3 draw in the quarter-final at Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Sports City Stadium in Jeddah yesterday. Substitute Jean Patric scored the winning»»»

Five parties are certain to enter the next parliament, while three remain close to the 4% electoral threshold, according to a survey by the Myara polling agency. The data were collected for Bulgarian National Radio. The nationally representative survey was conducted between April 4 and 13 among 1,0»»»

Doha, Qatar: MES Indian School, Abu Hamour Branch, (MESIS) has once again upheld its tradition of academic excellence by achieving a remarkable 100 percent pass rate in the CBSE Class X Board Examination 2025–26. Out of 142 students who appeared, all successfully passed the examination. A total of »»»

With the geopolitical architecture of Southeast Asia going through a shift of late, Indonesia and the US have taken a further, and important step in their security relationship by way of a Major Defence Cooperation Partnership (MDCP) signed at the Pentagon on April 13, Antara News reports. For Pres»»»

With the geopolitical architecture of Southeast Asia going through a shift of late, Indonesia and the US have taken a further, and important step in their security relationship by way of a Major Defence Cooperation Partnership (MDCP) signed at the Pentagon on April 13, Antara News reports. For Pres»»»

With the geopolitical architecture of Southeast Asia going through a shift of late, Indonesia and the US have taken a further, and important step in their security relationship by way of a Major Defence Cooperation Partnership (MDCP) signed at the Pentagon on April 13, Antara News reports. For Pres»»»

With the geopolitical architecture of Southeast Asia going through a shift of late, Indonesia and the US have taken a further, and important step in their security relationship by way of a Major Defence Cooperation Partnership (MDCP) signed at the Pentagon on April 13, Antara News reports. For Pres»»»

Doha, Qatar: Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) has reached a new level of selectivity for the Class of 2030, with applications rising 92 percent. The surge marks the most competitive admissions cycle in the university’s history and brings the admit rate to a record low. The admitted class refle»»»

Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan, Adylbek Kasymaliev, as part of the Spring Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank Group in Washington, held a series of meetings with the management of leading U.S. technology corporations to discuss prospects for Kyrgyzstan’s digital development. »»»

Heart surgeries have begun to be performed in Balykchy city. At the new KATLAB center, a patient with acute myocardial infarction successfully underwent coronary angiography and stenting. According to local authorities, the first intervention was performed thanks to a team of doctors from the Natio»»»

Abu Dhabi: The UAE’s armed forces are on constant readiness to defend the country under all circumstances, a senior defence official said, pointing to the military’s performance during recent attacks as evidence of a system built for sustained resilience rather than short-term response. Get updated»»»

SEOUL, South Korea: When a major stroke paralysed South Korean pianist Lee Hun's right side in 2012, he first worried about whether he would ever walk again. Playing the piano wasn't even a consideration. He returned to the piano only after a mentor told him about a large number of piano pieces for»»»

Manila: Filipino billionaire Enrique 'Ricky' Razon Jr.’s energy firm is pressing beyond the aging Malampaya gas field in a bid to expand the country’s long-term domestic gas supply and reduce reliance on imported fuel. Prime Energy Resources Development B.V., the Razon-led operator of Malampaya, sa»»»